The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

Lawyers for web shop operators are reportedly still "in dialogue" with Attorney General Carl Bethel over aspects of the Gaming House Operator Regulations and the sliding-scale tax structure the regulations address.

The discussions were yesterday disclosed by Island Luck CEO Sebas Bastian, who told The Tribune on the sidelines of his IL Cares "Check It, to Catch It" breast cancer initiative, that the legal minds were still holding conversations over the regulations.

"Well, as you know, it is before the courts now, so I won't speak too much on the legal side of it," he said.

"But, from where I sit, I think the legal minds, our attorneys and the Attorney General, have been in dialogue and we are just waiting to see just how this all works itself out," he added.

Tourism Minister Dionisio D'Aguilar, who has responsibility for gaming, last month said the tax structure took effect on September 19, following slight changes to address operators' concerns over its legality.

In comments to Tribune Business, he explained that the amendments which gave way to the structure in May used "the wrong terminology" to describe what should be used as the basis for calculating the amount web shops must pay.

He said the definition previously employed could have been interpreted as meaning that the different sliding scale rates, from 20 percent up to 50 percent, should be applied to "all the money" that patrons pay.

However, he said it should actually be based on that sum minus the winnings paid out by web shops.

To that end, he said the government had moved swiftly to remove the term "revenue collected" from regulation 57 and replace it with "all taxable revenue."

Mr Bastian, in an affidavit supporting his company's judicial review application last month, argued the "revenue collected" definition was so vague as to make it "unenforceable" and contrary to the Gaming House Operator Regulations.

Meanwhile, when contacted for comment on the matter yesterday, attorney Wayne Munroe, who represents Island Game, Paradise Games and A Sure Win, maintained that his team has not relented in its quest for justice.

"We have met and with continue to meet with the (Office of the Attorney General) on the settlement of the matter," he said.

The new tax structure was to be implemented July 1. However, it was delayed several times.

Under the tax structure, web shops earning up to $20m in taxable revenue will be taxed at a rate of 20 percent and those falling between $20m and $40 will be taxed at a rate of 25 percent.

Others earning between $40m and $60m will be taxed at a rate of 30 percent while those in the range of $60m and $80m will be taxed at a rate of 35 percent.

Those earning between $80m and $100m will be taxed at a rate of 40 percent and those earning over $100m, at 50 percent.